


One for Sorrow

by Actual_Trash



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Wingfic, Wings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 06:12:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Actual_Trash/pseuds/Actual_Trash
Summary: Wingfic AUNewt Scamander, fresh off the boat into the bustling city of New York just wanted to travel onwards to Arizona and free his thunderbird. He didn’t think he’d end up chasing down an obscurial and teaching a broken man how to fly in the process.





	One for Sorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. Firstly, I’m sorry to all the readers of my other on-going Crewt fic ‘Softly’. I sat down to write a chapter of that and ended up writing this instead. Nevertheless I hope you enjoy this new fic.
> 
> This AU is set in a world that is exactly the same as the normal Fantastic Beasts verse, except about five percent of the human population are winged. Most of them are also wizards, however, there are also a few non-magical people with wings. Plus the type of wings people have are random and not genetically passed down, the only similarity is that they’re always bird wings. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this. Thanks for reading!

Newt eyed the border control officer as he flipped open his case and stared down into Newt’s seemingly muggle-worthy belongings. The officer looked up and glared at Newt as well. He watched him for what would usually be a rude length of time. But Newt was used to it by now. He had been stared at his entre life.

 

It was, however, a particular part of Newt’s body people usually couldn’t tear their eyes away from. The huge pair of coppery wings that were folded against Newt’s back were always an arresting sight for wingless humans. Less than five percent of the human population were winged. And more often than not winged humans were also wizards, so they didn’t venture into the muggle world often, which made wings an even scarcer sight for muggles.

 

Newt awkwardly cleared his throat when the pause got a bit too long for his liking. He had places to go and thunderbirds to free; he couldn’t stand on the docks and be gawked at like a zoo animal all day.

 

The guard blinked and coughed awkwardly before swinging the lid of Newt’s case shut.

 

“Welcome to New York,” he said quickly, and clumsily ushered Newt along so he could check the next passenger.

 

Newt sighed and took a deep breath of the cold New York air. Now where to first?

 

He decided to do what he usually did in any new place, and moved to a patch of vacant pavement near the edge of the dock. Newt had to look for a place to stay while he was visiting New York and the best and quickest way to do that was to get an aerial view of the city. Not to mention it was a great way to learn the lay of the land, it was much easier to navigate with a bird’s eye view after all.

 

Newt looked down at the water from the docks edge, it was a good six feet below him. _Excellent_.

 

With one great leap out over the sea Newt unfurled his wings, flapping vigorously as he dipped a bit. But with a few forceful wing beats he started to ascend quickly.  

 

Newt either had to take off from a slight height or at a run; he couldn’t immediately get airborne like some winged people. The type of bird your wings resembled affected the course of your flight pattern, and Newt’s wings were like a giant scaled up version of a red kite’s. Red kites being smallish, rust-coloured birds of prey meant they were expert aeronauts once in flight but it took a bit of a boost to get them there first.

 

Newt was always grateful he’d ended up with the wings of a soaring bird; it meant he could travel great distances once he was airborne. Some winged humans were less fortunate and ended up with the wings of rather clumsy birds, sometimes even flightless ones.

 

Newt circled a few times once he was out over the water, just gaining some height. Once he was at a reasonably safe distance from the ground Newt flew inland.

 

There were no rules for where winged humans could fly, but it was deemed polite to cruise about thirty feet up or higher. It just meant that no one accidently clipped wingless humans as they flew past, and the rush of wind from wings beating didn’t blow people’s possessions away.

 

The buildings in New York were mostly all high enough that Newt had to adhere to the same routs as regular people but there were a few shortcuts he took advantage of and he quickly found himself in the city centre.

 

As he flew towards what looked like a bank Newt saw a gathering of people stood outside of it, listening to a speaker. His curiosity got the better of him and he decided to land.

 

Landing was tricky at the best of times, and right now it was even harder because of the busy streets below, Newt didn’t want to accidently fall on top of anyone.

 

Deciding to land at the back of the crowd, Newt flapped vigorously so he didn’t come down too hard.

Despite his best efforts Newt still accidently knocked into a lady who was stood in front of him. She stumbled forwards into the crowd but didn’t fall over. It was only when he properly landed that he realised she had a sleek pair of beautiful blue and white wings.

 

She turned to look at him with a sharp glare.

 

“Oh I beg your pardon, landing you know, it’s a bit tricky,” apologised Newt sheepishly as he folded his own wings into a resting position.

 

She just rolled her dark eyes at him and continued to eat her hotdog and listen to the speaker.

 

Newt shuffled awkwardly on the spot for a moment and turned his attention to the severe-looking woman who was still talking.

 

“This great city sparkles with the jewels of man’s invention! Movie theatres, automobiles, the wireless, electric lights – all dazzle and bewitch us!” she called out over the crowd. She had an air of unsettling charisma about her and she sounded painfully earnest about her cause... whatever it may be.

 

Newt glanced around at the other people who were watching her, most of them seemed intrigued but he could see a few younger people stood to the side sniggering behind their hands. Newt wondered what was so funny about this woman.

 

“But where there is light there is shadow, friend. Something is stalking our city, wreaking destruction then disappearing without a trace… We have to fight, join us, the Second Salemers, in our fight!”

 

 _Oh_ thought Newt. That’s why the muggles were giggling. To the average person she probably sounded crazy. But to a wizard it just sounded worrying. And the more he listened to her rant the worse it seemed to become.

 

Newt anxiously pulled his case up off of the floor and cradled it in his crossed arms. If there was some kind of magical beast causing havoc in New York City he didn’t want his own brood to get caught up in it.

 

At some point during the rally a dark haired, rotund man shuffled past Newt with a similar bag. Newt clutched his own case tighter as he passed by.

 

The kerfuffle around Newt seemed to draw the attention of the woman speaking and she looked at him with dark imploring eyes. “You, my winged friend! What drew you to our meeting today?”

 

Newt shuffled awkwardly, rather startled to find himself the centre of attention.

 

“Oh… I was just… passing,” he fumbled.

 

The lady didn’t seem like she was going to give up on getting an answer from him and continued.

 

“Are you a seeker? A seeker after truth?” she asked intently.

 

Newt swallowed and said, “I’m more of a chaser, really.”

 

Newt inwardly grinned at his quidditch joke and wondered if any wizards nearby understood it, Newt thought of the winged woman stood near him in the crowd. If he went by statistics she was most likely a witch.

 

The strong voice of the speaker commanded the attention of the crowd again.

 

“Hear my words and heed my warning… and laugh if you dare! Witches live among us!”

 

Newt swallowed nervously, that wasn’t good.

 

“We have to fight together for the sake of our children, for the sake of tomorrow!” she cried.

 

Suddenly her piercing gaze was back on Newt again.

 

“What do you say to that, friend?” she asked, an almost demanding tone to her voice.

 

Newt looked up towards her and itched uncomfortably under her stare. He suddenly decided he didn’t want to stay here any longer.

 

“Umm, excuse me,” said Newt awkwardly and he started to shuffle his way out of the crowd, leaving the rally behind him as the speaker’s eyes bored holes into the back of his skull.

 

As Newt was walking away he felt a hand grab his shoulder and pull him into a nearby alcove.

 

He was surprised to see the winged lady he’d accidently bumped into earlier.

 

“Hello,” said Newt somewhat startled.

 

She looked him up and down like she was trying to figure something out.

 

“You’re a wizard,” stated the woman. It wasn’t even a question; she said it like a fact.

  
Newt nervously cleared his throat and replied, “And you’re a witch?”

 

She nodded. “Yes, I am. Sorry about this but I stopped you because I don’t want you doing anything stupid in front of the Second Salemers. That woman, Mary Lou Barebone, is vicious and as observant as a hawk. You stick out like a sore thumb, and its not just because of those,” she said gesturing to Newt’s wings.

 

Newt self-consciously pulled his wings closer to his body; they were a lot bigger than the witch’s wings. Hers lay neatly and unobtrusively on her back like a blue and white cloak.

 

“Just be careful alright?” she cautioned, letting go of Newt’s shoulder and stepping away to leave.

 

But before she could disappear into the crowds Newt called out, “Sorry, Miss! Wait a second.”

 

She turned back around and looked decidedly bothered. “What?”

 

“Uh, I was just wondering if you knew a good place to stay in New York. I’m new here so I don’t know my way around.”

 

She sighed and said, “Yes I’d noticed that. There is a wizarding hotel nearby my apartment called The Wandwood. Follow me and I’ll show you the way.”

 

Newt grinned, ‘Thank you so much, Miss…?”

 

“Goldstein, Tina Goldstein,” said the witch as she started to lead them back out onto the street.

 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Newt Scamander. Thank you for doing this,” replied Newt as he followed her.

 

Tina sighed and looked at him with a kind gaze, it appeared she was a lot less stern than she tried to seem.

 

“Its alright Mister Scamander, I’m going home anyway. The hotel is on the way.”

 

“Are we going to walk?” asked Newt quizzically as he looked at Tina’s wings.

 

Tina noticed him looking and countered with, “Do you want to fly?”

 

Newt shrugged and said, “I don’t mind I just assumed it would be quicker than walking.”

 

“You’re right,” replied Tina, “there is a street corner just ahead which has enough space to get airborne.”

 

Newt smiled, he preferred flying. There were less people in the sky.

 

“What kind of wings do you have? If you don’t mind me asking,” said Newt curiously. He couldn’t identify the blue and white feathers that lay tidily on Tina’s back.

 

“An American blue jay, how about you?” responded the witch with a small smile.

 

“Eurasian red kite,” replied Newt, happy to talk about it.

 

Tina let out an amused snort and said, “If we were actually birds, you would probably eat me.”

 

Newt laughed as they turned around a bend in the street and into a wide corner-section of the road.

 

“Here we are,” said Tina, “Luckily It’s getting late so the streets aren’t busy, there should be enough space to take off without crashing into anyone.”

 

Newt nodded and gestured to the open space before them. “Lead the way.”

 

Tina nodded and took a step away from Newt before unfurling her wings. Newt admired the blue and grey patterning of them as she took a little run-up before flapping and taking off effortlessly… much more quickly than Newt could.

 

In proportion to her body Tina’s wings were a great deal smaller than Newt’s impressively wide wingspan, which made her a much more dexterous flier when it came to taking off and landing. But Newt figured once they were in the air he would be a lot more graceful.

 

Once Tina was out of the way Newt took a longer run-up and after some powerful wing strokes he too was up in the sky, quickly following after the blue feathers above him.

 

With little to no effort Newt caught up and started to cruise alongside Tina. She had to flap her shorter wings a lot more to stay aloft, while Newt barely needed to, his long broad wings letting him glide most of the way.

 

“So how far is it?” called Newt over the rush of the wind.

 

Tina did a sharp turn around a building and answered as Newt did a marginally more graceful swoop past it. “Not far, it would be quicker if all the buildings weren’t so tall and we could just fly over them.”

 

Newt chuckled and replied, “I’m assuming getting up that high just isn’t worth the shortcuts?”

 

Tina shook her head and said, “No the wind up there is strong and exceedingly cold, it’s better to just stay down between the protection of the buildings.”

 

They mostly flew in silence for the rest of the journey, passing a few other winged humans as they sped by. Newt rarely saw other winged people mainly because he usually didn’t see people at all when he was out in the wilderness tracking exotic beasts, but it was nice to see some others whip past in the icy air of New York.

 

Tina was correct when she said the hotel wasn’t far, and soon she started to descend, Newt decided to circle until she’d landed to avoid a collision on the pavement.

 

Newt landed less gracefully than Tina but managed not to bump into her this time.

 

“Here it is,” said Tina motioning towards the timeworn, white stone building in front of them. It had the words ‘Wandwood’ emblazoned above the doorway in burnished bronze letters.

 

“Like I said before, it’s a wizarding hotel, apparently it just looks like a derelict building site to muggles. I’ve had friends stay in it before, and they say it’s not too expensive and has good service. Hopefully its what you were looking for Mister Scamander,” said Tina as she turned to look at Newt.

 

Newt let out a satisfied sigh and responded, “It looks perfect, thank you for helping me. You didn’t have to.”

 

Tina just shrugged nonchalantly and said, “I know, but it was no trouble. I live just down the street and I was going this way.”

 

Newt nodded and said, “Nevertheless, I appreciate it. It was nice to meet you, perhaps I’ll see you about if you live nearby.”

 

Newt extended his arm for a handshake and smiled when Tina grabbed his hand with a firm business-like grip.

 

“See you round Mister Scamander,” parted Tina as she stepped away from Newt and started to walk the rest of the way home.

 

Newt was in a rather cheerful mood now, the rally had soured his disposition as soon as he heard it, but the helpfulness of Tina had turned out to be a welcome relief.

 

He stepped up the few stairs that led to the entrance of the Wandwood Hotel and went inside. He was immediately hit with a wave of chatter and liveliness as he passed through the doorway. The entire room radiated a lovely, warm ambiance that reminded him strongly of the Leaky Cauldron back in London.

 

However, this wasn’t a pub. The Wandwood’s entrance lobby simply adjoined onto a sophisticated-looking bar, which was where most of the social energy was coming from. Though Newt turned his attention away from the bar and to the service desk.

 

There was a very bored looking witch sat there with the end of a quill in her mouth, as she contemplatively stared down at a newspaper crossword.

 

Newt strode up and set his case on the floor before leaning up against the wood-grain of the desk.

 

“Good evening,” greeted Newt as he looked down at the crossword.

 

The witch looked up over a pair of heavy-framed glasses and took the quill out of her mouth.

 

“Hello sir,” she said in with an uninterested drawl of a voice, “how can I help you?”

 

“I was hoping to book a room, probably only for a couple of days but I’m not quite sure yet.”

 

She sighed and flipped open a heavy binder that was sat on the desk and browsed down it.

 

“We’re quite busy, but we have a few rooms available. They’re all singles, are you staying alone sir?”

 

Newt nodded and said, “That’s fine, a single is all I need.”

 

The witches’ eyes flicked up to gaze at Newt and briefly glanced over his wings; she wasn’t winged herself.

 

“We have one room with a larger shower and a bathtub… I’m not sure you would fit in the others,” she said unabashedly, obviously not caring if she insulted him.

 

Newt didn’t mind; it was actually rather useful of her to suggest a room with a shower large enough to accommodate his wings.

 

“That’ll do,” responded Newt.

 

“Alright, that’s fifteen dragots per night and sign here please,” asked the witch as she slid him a check-in form.

 

Once everything was signed the witch handed Newt a heavy brass key and told him the direction of his room.

 

He was staying in room two hundred and two which was on the second floor. Newt found it easily enough and was pleasantly surprised when he stepped inside.

 

It was a charming little room with a deep, forest green coverlet on the bed and a thick, dark brown rug spread over a polished wooden floor.

 

Newt also peeped his head into the bathroom and had a look around. He was very satisfied with that too.

 

Just like the service witch downstairs had said, the main feature of the bathroom was a grandiose, porcelain bathtub with shiny bronze taps and matching clawed feet. It also had a crisp white shower curtain pulled to one side, and a huge gleaming showerhead suspended above the taps.

 

Newt let out a satisfied sigh and returned to the bedroom, laying his case down on the floor.

 

He had a long evening of feeding and caring for all his beasts before he could sleep. Newt unlatched the clasps and descended into the myriad of habitats below.

 

...

 

               
  
  
Here are some photos of a red kite and a blue jay so you can see what Newt and Tina's wings look like. Every time a significant character is introduced I'll include a photo of the bird their wings are based off.       

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to talk message me on my tumblr at 'protect-credence.tumblr.com'


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